The U.S. State Department has responded to the accusation of the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze.

"We are deeply troubled by the recently-introduced draft “Foreign Agents” law, which would stigmatize and silence independent voices and citizens of Georgia who are dedicated to building a better future for their own communities. We are deeply concerned about its implications for freedom of speech and democracy in Georgia," a State Department Spokesperson told the Accent.

On February 27 Irakli Kobakhidze said:

"Those who say that the first draft law on foreign agents submitted by representatives of the “People’s Power” movement is Russian are lying, wrong information was provided, and unfortunately, the State Department spokesperson told a lie."

Representatives of the “People’s Power” movement, formed by the deputies who left “Georgian Dream” but remaining in the parliamentary majority, announced on 14 February that they have drafted a bill on the activities of foreign-funded organizations. They submitted it to the Parliament’s bureau on February 20.

On February 27, the Parliament’s bureau discussed and endorsed for the consideration of the committees yet another, more severe version of the bill on “foreign agents.” Like the previous version, it was submitted by the ruling majority MPs, which call themselves “People’s Power.”

The draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” has already triggered local and international criticism from the UN agencies in Georgia, U.S. and EU Ambassadors, the Spokespersons of the EU High Representative Josep Borrell, and the U.S. Department of State. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said that she “cannot support such legislation and persecution of new agents.” Despite the calls not to adopt the bill, the ruling party is carrying out an active campaign to support it.